China Press Digest: Friday, October 27

     BEIJING (MNI) - The following are highlights from the China press for

Friday, October 27:

     The People's Bank of China on Friday asked for liquidity needs via

seven-day, 14-day, 28-day and 63-day reverse repos from Oct. 30 to Nov. 30,

Wallstreetcn.com reported.

     The market is watching to see if the People's Bank of China will begin to

use a two-month reverse repo in its open-market operations, with some reports

saying the central bank would conduct two-month reverse repos today, the China

Securities Journal reported Friday. Money supply is expected to remain tight and

balanced, the newspaper said. Unidentified analysts were quoted as saying the

PBOC's possible use of a two-month reverse repo could "fundamentally" ease

current liquidity pressure and reflect the PBOC's intention to stabilize

liquidity in the medium to long term. (China Securities Journal)

     Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng said Thursday at a press briefing

that Tesla is working with regulators in Shanghai to set up a factory in that

city. He would not confirm or deny reports that China would allow foreign

companies to establish factories by themselves and not be required to have a

Chinese company as a partner. Asked if U.S. officials would try to make a

breakthrough during President Donald Trump's visit that would allow American

factories to avoid the requirement to have a Chinese partner, Gao said both

sides are speeding up the work process to make Trump's visit achieve "more

consensus and solid results." U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will lead

the U.S. trade negotiating team during Trump's visit, according to Gao.

     Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng, responding to a question at a

press conference Thursday on why China's trade with North Korea increased 3.7%

y/y in the first nine months of this year, said "inertia exists in trade

activities, it takes time for the effects of any trade measure to emerge,"

according to a transcript on the ministry's website. Gao stressed that China's

determination to implement the United Nation Security Council's sanctions on

North Korea is "serious" and "beyond question."

     China has finalized smart manufacturing pilot programs for 2017, the

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said, according to a front-page

report in the Economic Information Daily on Friday. A total of 97 cities and

districts of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jinagsu, and Xinjiang were

included in the pilot programs, the newspaper said. The smart manufacturing

programs will include sectors ranging from petrochemicals, steel, aviation,

car-manufacturing, medicine, and new energy. (Economic Information Daily)

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: iris.ouyang@marketnews.com

--MNI BEIJING Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: john.carter@mni-news.com

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